pigeoncrazy
31 posts
Aug 21, 2008
8:19 AM
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Hi folks,
I finally have my first kit of young rollers. I have begun their training, but I've noticed that from day to day they are a little inconsistent. Is this normal?
For example, earlier in the week when I opened the settling cage they were heading straight for the trap. But last night, they all jumped straight to the ground and pecked around at the lawn instead - NOT good!
Could they be getting too much to eat? I don't want to starve them at this age, but don't want to lose them either...Any thoughts?
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CVRC
485 posts
Aug 21, 2008
8:24 AM
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how old are the birds?????
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Cristian Castro
CM Loft
CVR
WWW.COACHELLAVALLEYROLLERS.COM
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pigeoncrazy
32 posts
Aug 21, 2008
8:27 AM
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Hi CVRC
About 1.5 months old. But I have 3 more at 4 weeks I haven't started with yet.
Here's a pic of the older ones...
~Karen
Last Edited by on Aug 21, 2008 8:30 AM
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CVRC
487 posts
Aug 21, 2008
8:32 AM
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well my birds start to fly at 6 weeks and i don't let them go to the ground...i can't really help u one this on sorry..i am not that experienced...
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Cristian Castro
CM Loft
CVR
WWW.COACHELLAVALLEYROLLERS.COM
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CVRC
488 posts
Aug 21, 2008
8:32 AM
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u got some nice lookers there.....good luck with them
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Cristian Castro
CM Loft
CVR
WWW.COACHELLAVALLEYROLLERS.COM
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pat66
171 posts
Aug 21, 2008
9:30 AM
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young birds will try that sometimes,what I do is when they go to the ground I throw a milk jug with stones in it in their direction to scare them,do not let them see you, but 1 or 2 times of that and they give up that bad habit!
GOOD LUCK!
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Pat
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pigeoncrazy
33 posts
Aug 21, 2008
9:50 AM
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Good trick with the milk jug - if they do it again I'll have one ready. Thanks!
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Square
421 posts
Aug 21, 2008
10:00 AM
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If I was in you position I would first make sure you have a good handle on the feed.. by this I mean all your kit birds are even with food. If that is good then they will be more focused on taking short flights around the yard/kit box. I would stand where they land in the lawn in front of the kit box or where ever they are landing, and flush them off the ground as nessary. This has worked for me in the past it trains the birds you dont want them on the ground however the arent to shaken up. after a while the will learn that the open box means fly after that the only thing on their mind is FEED, that they can only get in the kit box, not on the lawn.. hope this helps,, really nice setup and best of luck...
Square
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"Home of the Ghost Town Roller"
K.C.R.C
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Sir Frankie
14 posts
Aug 21, 2008
11:17 AM
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Hi,
I learned from a guy in here named Vince, that once you feel your young are pretty muched homed. You can scare them up with a flag with a 6 foot pole just keep waving the flag until the birds realzie its time to fly. Once they get to know it, they just go straight up. It's worked for me since I took his advice. I learned many things from this site. Make sure the birds are hungry too. Once they know where the feed is, they will not bother with the ground they will trap straight in. You can also remove the water before they fly, when they come it they will hit the water too.
Sir Frankie
Last Edited by on Aug 21, 2008 11:22 AM
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pigeoncrazy
35 posts
Aug 21, 2008
11:47 AM
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Thanks everyone for the kind words and advice. I need all the luck I can get right now!
Square and Sir Frankie, Good points! -
I am not 100% confident these birds are homed yet. So maybe the milk jug or flag trick is not the way to go just yet, until I am sure.
I've never done this before and neither have these birds. Getting a handle on the feed is tough. I don't want to skimp because they are still growing. But I can't have them pecking around on the lawn either.
They only get feed in front of them for about 15 minutes after they "fly" which so far has just been from about 3 feet away to the trap. But they get all they can eat in that 15 minutes, or until I see they are "done."
Last Edited by on Aug 21, 2008 11:50 AM
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Werstler
81 posts
Aug 21, 2008
12:54 PM
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best luck I have had was with a young cat, she would follow me around the cages if they would land she would chase them up. because she was young I was able to teach her not to catch and kill them, if she got lucky I would grab her quick and take them away from her. I think a coyote got her last winter. I'm trying to teach my dog to do it but he doesn't understand sickem yet. LOL.. good luck. Werstler
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Mount Airy Lofts
768 posts
Aug 21, 2008
1:03 PM
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This is when having a nice tennis ball would come in handy. After a few cast into their direction, they learn pretty quick it isn't some thing you tolerate.
I have seen guys who let their birds go to the ground, trap their birds just as fast as say me who doesn't. It is all in how you handle the feed can.
Chase, chase and chase some more is all I can say about birds that head to the ground.
Just my take,
Thor
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It's all about the friends we make :)
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pigeoncrazy
36 posts
Aug 21, 2008
1:48 PM
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LOL, Yeah if I wanted lawn ornaments I would have bought a nice pigeon statue ;)
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TheGame
158 posts
Aug 21, 2008
3:45 PM
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Im at the same stage!! My birds hit the ground and start pecking.... I have been simply clapping my hand once and saying up and scaring them back up onto the loft...
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sippi
481 posts
Aug 21, 2008
5:35 PM
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I dont ever let my birds go to the ground. That is a bad habit for them to start. You can walk slowly to them and make them fly up without frightening them. Once you do it a couple of times then you can throw whatever at them as they will know that is a no-no. After mine are trained I can just stamp my foot and they will not even land on the ground.
Sippi
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